There's no mystery about the best place for book lovers to gather this weekend — it's the Printers Row Lit Fest in the South Loop. But here are other questions about literature that have confounded many:

Call it "sway" or "pull" or "juice" or "clout" — we're talking about power or influence, often of a political nature. Clout may have made one of its frequent Chicago appearances recently when Metra CEO Alex Clifford got a lucrative buyout deal...

Stories in the Tribune using the expression "boots on the ground" to refer to military men and women in a combat theater from the mid 1980s (when the digital record begins) until Sept. 24, 2001 -- Zero. ...from Sept. 25,...

There are a lot of people out there who will think less of you if you use “impact” as a verb: A longer storm season will negatively impact tourism. Failure to study will negatively impact your grades. Technology will impact higher education....

Bogard, 37, of Oak Park, said he tried to settle with the village but was unsuccessful. Now he is suing village officials and the Fire Department for damages. "They basically told me to pound sand," he said recently, standing outside...

At Dictionary.com we find the word "Canuck" in reference to Canadians is deemed "sometimes offensive" (Random House); "often derogatory" (Online Etymology Dictionary) and "often offensive" ( American Heritage Dictionary). So what gives with the hockey-team nam

I work with words every day -- they???re the tools of my trade -- and I love language. One of my favorite Sunday reading rituals, before his death last month, was William Safire???s On Language column in the New York...

William Safire Photos

Ever stayed past the end of a movie, perhaps to catch the music credits, a blooper reel, or, in the case of the latest X-Men picture, a final scene that sets up the next film in the series? If so -- and we've all done this -- you've undoubtedly scratched your head at the arcane job titles crawling up the screen.
What the heck, after all, is a "best boy," or "Foley artist" or "set puller"?
In a handy little volume called The Skinny About Best Boys, Dollies, Green Rooms, Leads and other Media Lingo...